Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Spoilers....... Issue #34, Childhood's End

Coipel's Wildfire suit gave it a samurai-like vibe to me which was cool. I think it also flowed well from the story at the time with Shikari & her people.

What actually struck me was Umbra's sword. She didn't have any sort of weapon in her slinky costume so I don't think it's a sheathed sword or something solid to begin with. I'm inclined to believe that the sword's a super-dense darkfield projection, especially how it has those "dark heat trails". I was thinkin perhaps it was somethin she picked up from the floor but it didn't seem likely.

Paul Levitz once told me that he believed that by the 30th century we would all be gray. That, hopefully, ethnic differences would be less of an issue, because we will have become one human race.

At the time I was doing subtle, and I hoped ground breaking things, like introducing black Khunds, introducing a new Asian Karate Kid, or having Zendak's nephew revealed as a black child. The thing I most liked about these changes was that they were treated as though they were a natural part of life in the 30th century. There was nothing odd, or even noteworthy about the ethnicity of these characters ... they just were ... and it wasn't an issue.

Concerning Wildfire, I'm sorry that his appearance has been perceived as an ethnic slight of some kind. That was certainly far from being my intention. Perhaps I should have given him more pronounced black features. The idea did occur to me, but I dismissed it specifically because I have noticed that, in our own world, ethnic traits are often less pronounced than they have been in previous decades. Some black people look beautifully African, while others seem to have more Caucasian features. Some people who choose to identify themselves as black are even lighter complected than many Caucasians. It is an interesting, and exciting thing, seeing our differences fading away before our eyes.

Anyway, I do have to admit that one factor that contributed to my choice of physical features for Wildfire, was that I Have never seen reference on the two men who, in reboot continuity, were combined to create the identity of Wildfire. I do recall Drake Burroughs from his preboot appearances. I've also been aware that a good many (including the scripter of Childhood's End)were unhappy with the changes in Wildfire's origin. Without completely disregarding the reboot origin, I did think it might be time to invoke certain elements of his preboot appearance, such as the apparently controversial decision to return design aspects from his original costume/containment suit.

I am sorry that I didn't anticipate, and hadn't thought to be more sensitive to, the possible concerns that fellow poster Blacula has mentioned. I see how important this is to him, and I sincerely hope that Blacula understands that no offense or slight was intended.

Steve

Umbra now creates solid mass weapons from her darkforce. She simply "conjures" them up, as seen in issue #24.

Steve

Re: Wildfire's non-ethnic appearance.

One might suppose that, since the laws of physics are so screwy on Qward, that Wildfire would have an appearance that reflects both of his cultural heritage if he ever had a body in this universe.

Here's a couple of pics. Personally, I think you should have made WF look female After all, if you were literising his appearence, he should look ancient, after spending a long time floating as formless energy inside and outside of the universe between Rifts and Lost 3. So why should the merged entity (whose minds intergrated in that time) look anything like either of his "donors"?

Atom'X on the left, BlastOff on the right.

I was never thrilled with the two-people-merged-as-one Wildfire, but I agree that any depiction of the future should be less Caucasian-dominated than it usually is.

Since we rarely see Wildfire as any sort of ethnicity, whether in appearance or characterization, there may be better ways to develop this theme, however.

For what it's worth, I've always thought of the postboot Wildfire as not really having any racial identity, since the amalgam consciousness began "life" as a formless ball of energy.

I am sorry that I didn't anticipate, and hadn't thought to be more sensitive to, the possible concerns that fellow poster Blacula has mentioned. I see how important this is to him, and I sincerely hope that Blacula understands that no offense or slight was intended.

Hi Steve. Thanks very much for taking the time to answer my question. I find it fascinating when comic artists or writers explain what factors or decisions go into what we see or read on the printed page and am very grateful to you for having done so.

I completely understand that no offense or slight was intended by you personally and am extremely sorry if that was the impression I gave. When I asked the question "Why has Wildfire's race changed?" it was in more of a rhetorical sense rather than "Why has Steve Lightle changed Wildfire's race?". Just one look at your portrayal of Karate Kid in this issue (the best depiction of him and his multi-ethnic heritage I've ever seen) as well as the examples you gave of your other attempts to include minority (by today's standards) races in the Legion's universe and one knows that this is not an issue that you are insensitive to.

I consider you not only a first-class artist but also a first-class guy and even though you changed my 2 favourite costumes in the Legion I look forward to seeing your work again soon, here or somewhere else.

All the best,
Daniel.

Alright Keith,

You've kept us in suspense long enough. Who ARE the two skeletons in the power battery?

I've always thought the notion of clear racial divisions in the future, after a millenium of interbreeding (uninhibited by cultural norms or geographical complexities), was kind of silly.

Might take more than a thousand years for racial uniformity. There are still many isolated places on the planet. Maybe it is also reasonable that space colonies went out from various nations that held cultural norms.

I've always liked that Steve Lightle has culturaly based reasons other than "looks cool" for his designs. That seems the point of SF yes?

Hmm... if it's the case that many of the Legion homeworlds were "seeded" by a limited number of colonists with silimar metagenes, it might make sense if, say, the Braalians were all of similar racial heritage, and different than the Zwennians, for example.

It's possible that race is just a mater of fasion in the 30th century. Cosmetic surgery can already change features; it's possible that by the 30th they could change pigmentation as well.

Okay, well having finally read the issue, I can say that I quite enjoyed it! Kudos to Keith and Steve!